Double-deck bus



Jaun. l

E. R. BRAINERD DOUBLE DECK BUS Filed Aug. 22. 1921 2 Sheets-sheet 1 Jan. 1, 1924 1,479,426

E. R. BRAINERD DOUBLE DECK BUS Filed Aug. 22, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedJan. 1, 17,924.

,UNE-'FE rares l, l 1,479,425 PATENT orinar-1.l

' EDWARD R. BRAINERD, OF LOS'ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. y

DOUBLE-DECK BUS.

Application led August 22, 1921; Serial No. 494,093. i

My invention relates generally to vehicles for the transportationof passengers, and moreparticularl f to a motor driven omnibus; vthe principalpobject of my inventiony being to provide a passenger carrying vehicle of the type vreferred to that yisprovided with an upper decl; or section 'having seats that are adapted to be occupied by passengers, and further to construct the'body of the vehicle so that it has av :relativelyl low center of gravity, and with the bottom of the body of the vehicle occupying a yposition very close to the ground or pavement.

Further objects of my invention are to,

generally improve upon and simplify the construction of the existing types of motor driven omnibuses, to provide a construction that will economize space and consequently enabling relatively large number of passengers to be` carried upon a vehicle body of limited size; and further to provide the body of the vehicle with an entrance opening located at thefront of the body of the vehicle and at a point adjacent to the vehicle drivers seat, thereby enabling a single operator to perform the functions of driver and conductor, to arrange anexitopening at the rear of the vehicle thereby enabling passengers to move to the rearl of the vehicle and alight `from the rear end thereof without being obliged to pass passengers entering the vehicle from the forward end;y and further to equip the kbody of the vehicle with a ,stairway that is` located immediately adjacent to; the'entrancepand exit opening so as to permit passengers to readily ascend to the upper deck of the vehicle and to descend therefrom. t

A further object of my invention is to construct an improved .type of passenger carrying vehicle or omnibus, and toassociate therewith a trailer, the construction of which is very similar to that of the propelling vehicle, and to arrange between the two vehicles a vestibule that is constructed so as to afford protection to the passengers moving from one vehicle to the other.

With the foregoing and other objects in viewmy invention consistsin certain novel.

features of construction and arrangement of parts that will be hereinafter Vmore Vfully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompai'iying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is aside elevational view of a motor driven omnibus of my improved construction.

`F 2 is a top plan viewof the omnibus. f Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view of theV omnibus.

Fig. 4 is across ysection taken on the line y4--4of Fig. 1. f

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken approximately on the Vline`5--5 of Fig. l.

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of a motor vehicle of my improved construction and which includes a motor driven vehicle and a trailer.

t ig. 7 is a plan view of the form of omni-Y bus'illustrated in Fig. V6, and with portions 'thereof broken away in order to more clearly illustrate the structure of certain parts of the vehicle.y i

Referring bynumerals to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a practicai embodiment of my invention, 10 vdesignates the elongated body of the vehicle, and which body may be formed of wood', metal or any suitable materialand including side walls Y i1, a bottom 12, a rear end wall 13, and a front end wall 14. j

Projecting forwardly from the front portion of the body i0 is a hood ithat incloses the engine thatprovides motive power for the vehicle, andarranged in the usual mannerl beneath the forward portion of said I hood is a front axle 16 that carries the front wheelsl?. The rear wheels 18 are mounted upon an axle 19 of ordinary form, which latter is disposed beneath the rear portion of the body 10, and said rear wheelswlS occupy pockets or recesses 20 -that are formed lin the sidey walls 1l.f Surmounting the side walls'll is a series of elongated rectangula';`

` windows 21, and formed at the forward end is the vehicle steering wheel 26 and the various control levers extending inwardly Yfrom the side walls 1l of the car fbody, and spaced apart by a inedially arranged isle 2? is a series of transversely disposed seats k28, and those seats 28h" that extend inwardly7 from the portions of the side walls that are provided with the pockets 20 are neces saiily shorter than the other seats. The isle 27 extends throughout the length of the ve` hicle body from the space between the entrance opening 22 andthe drivers seat 25 andra rear or exit opening 29 that is formed in the rear wall 13 and which is normally closed by a pair of outwardly swinging sell"-A closing doors 30, thereby aii'ording exit but not entrance. for. the passengers.

F rom the longitudinally disposed rails 3i thatare 'positioned immediately above'the windows 2l, the upper portions of the side walls of the car body extend upwarvdl 'ishort distance, thence inwardly in `compound curved lines that occupy a substantially horizontal plane, and thence upwardly thereby forming a pair of longitudinally disposed 'seats' 32 .that extend the entire length of the cai-"body, and which are arranged back'to backV on opposite sides of the transverse center of said body. The upper inner portions of these seats are con-- nected by a horizontally disposed top inember 33, and arranged thereupon adjacent to its edges is a relatively low railing or wall` 34 that serves to retain packages Yand the like tliat'inay be temporarily stored on the topV member .33 by thefpassengers that occupy` the seats 32.v

Byvirtue of `the construction just described, the back portions 'of the seats 32 are spaced a substantial distance apart so as to provide ample head room for the occupants of the space within the bodyr of the vehicle, and particularly while said occupantsfare traversing the aisle between the side seats 28. Such construction eliminates' the necessity 'for lowering the central portion et the bottoni of the body ot the ve# hicle to form a lowered aisle between the4 side portions 28, and at the saine time thevv spacing apart of the backs of the seats 32 providesspace for packages andy bundles upontheJ horizontally disposed top member 33 that 'connects vthe upperpor/tions of .the seat backs.

Projecting outwardly from the posts be-Y tween the'V windows 2l vare brackets l35 that support horizontally disposed longitudinally extending foot boards -36 that project outwardly troni the rails 3l, and'extending l gers thereby materially increasing the carrying capacity of the vehicle.,

Formed through the rontwall 140i the vehicle body adjacent to the entrance o ening 22 is adoor openingl39, and lea'ing therefrom upwardly Vto a platform Ll0 that is Jformed on the upper portion of the body in the saine horizontal plane with the foot boards i's a stairway 4l, on the outer side ci which is arranged a railing 42, and which arrangement provides means for ypassengers to ascend to the upper deck ofthev'ehicle and to descend therefrom.l The stairway all is located toA the side fot Ithe vehicle" drivers seat 25, and therefore does not ob.- struct the view of the driver While'cperat y ingthe car oi' omnibus.

ln the construction illustrated. in Figs.; 6 and 7,' a trailer l3`ha-ving'abodywhichis substantially Vthe same in'structureL as the body of the' motor driven vehicle',is mounted i upon a wheel carryingairle ll/l,andthe'forf"l ward 'endet this trailer lis'coupled `to the lrear end of the motorA driven vehicle 4inany suitable manner. vrlhe spaces betweenthe Asides et the kcoupled bodies are'normally closedv by pairs of relatively narrow l'doors 45, and

arranged between the lower portions oftheV frames of said bodies are outwardly curved' buil'er springs 46,'`the central portions" o'l* which normally bear against eachjother'and lico section l? ot'flexible material, 'suoli as clofselyY woven wire netting or a heavy :fabric inatir Among the particularly desirablefeatiires 1051' oi my limproved omnibus and Vto'fwhilh ll desire to callv especial, attention'are the construction-of the upper portionof the body of the vehicle, and particularly the spacing'' o'f the backs ci 'the seats on the top ofthe car to -torni head rooni for the passengers that occupy the seats within the body ofthe ve-V hicle and eliminating the necessity 'for drop-JA ping the bottom of the vehicleto an a'b'i normally low plane, the relatively' -low com-V` pact structure of the double decked'vehicle'- body, the arrangement whrebya relatively large number otpassengers-inay be"cony veniently and comfortably' accommodated, the arrangement whereby the passengers* enter the liront end of the vehicle and "def-A` part from the rear end, the arrangement whereby a single operator may perfornithe functions of car driver and conductor, and the general construction of the vehicle body u'hereby the center of gravity thereobc- K i eupies a relatively low plane, and whichl permits the passengers to readily-enter and" leave the omnibus as' well 'as adding ma' terially to the riding qualities of the 'yehicle-,AV

and as well as to the safety and stability thereof.

It will be understood that minor changes in size, form and construction of the variousv parts of my improved double decl; omnibus may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A passenger vehicle comprising a body including vertical sides curved at their upper ends inwardly and downwardly toward each other to provide seats on opposite sides of the body, and then upwardly to form seat backs, a roof spanning the space between the seat backs, and foot platforms extending laterally from the vertical sides below their upper ends.

2. A passenger vehicle comprising a body including vertical sides, a roof above and between the sides, vseats at opposite sides of the body formed between the roof and vertical sides and in substantially the same plane as the upper ends of the vertical sides, and foot platforms extending laterally from the vertical sides below their upper ends.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

v EDWARD R. BRAINERD. 

